[miningmx.com] — THE number of alleged sufferers of silicosis who
want to sue Anglo American in London now totals more than 1,500 according to
Richard Meeran, the lawyer who is driving the case.
His legal firm, Leigh Day & Co, this week submitted claims on behalf of a further 421
former mineworkers to the Supreme Court in London.
The case was launched in September last year with 450 initial claimants – all of
them former employees of gold mines owned by what is now AngloGold Ashanti.
Although Anglo American ended its shareholding in AngloGold several years ago, the
case is being made against the international mining giant rather than against the
South Africa-based former subsidiary.
Meeran is only claiming compensation for mineworkers who worked for Anglo prior
to the unbundling, while the case would only go ahead once jurisdiction has been
granted in Britain.
Anglo is challenging the jurisdiction of these courts, because both the mines
involved and the alleged silicosis sufferers are in South Africa. Meeran is basing the
jurisdiction application on the argument that the British court system will give the
claimants a better chance of justice as far as a possible settlement is concerned.
In another case in South Africa, attorney Richard Spoor is preparing for class action
against the gold industry as a whole.
– Sake24
